Masters of Strata

Deepest Dungeon, Book 2 (LitRPG)

By: G. D. Penman

Narrated by: Adam Sims

Martin and Iron Riot have made their mark on the Dungeons of Strata, slaying the first of the nightmarish Archdukes faster than anyone could have hoped. Yet the dungeon has left its marks on them, too.

Scarred with wounds that will not heal and changed in ways that he cannot comprehend, Martin must contend with the mysterious true nature of the game and the lengths that the Masters who made this world are willing to go to keep their secrets.

The Masters have complete control over everything in Strata. They now hunt Martin outside the game, using every means at their disposal to put a stop to his progress.

But they have forgotten the age-old adage: never corner a rat.

©2021 G.D. Penman (P)2021 Audible, Ltd

Had me at the start but.

So I have a very mixed opinion about this book. On the one hand, the story its self is good however I really don't think the author thought about the difference between written and audio when writing this book thats not ment as anything other then in written text you can skim and skip the repetitive word not every book is ment to be in audio format. I say all of this because for me the second half of the book was a huge struggle to get through and their were points were I almost quit reading the book and that was a big disappointment becausei enjoyed the first one but for both big fights, one being with the stone snake women and the second the archduke with the archduke being the worst with the overly repetitiveness with the echos. It adds nothing to the book and it's annoying and it made me want to skip both fights. The first book had a bit of repetition but this was ridiculous and overly done and it damaged the over all story for me. Again the story it self was good not as good as the first but but if you don't mind the repetition then you should love this book it was not for me.

IRON RIOT!!!

THIS BOOK WAS AMAZING! The story is top notch and has psychological tension. First book I actually had to read certain sections multiple times. I was fully engaged in this book. GREAT sequel that enlightened things from the first book.

Strange series that straddles VR and isekai

This is an odd book. Our protagonist, a player in a dungeon virtual reality game, is finding out that there is something decidedly strange going on in the game he is currently playing, something that is implicating the world outside of the game in sinister ways.

He and his group are trying to be the first to finish the game, and it seems that there are forces that are strenuously opposing that attempt.

The protagonist seems to have some of the indicators of autism, but if so, he is high-functioning. His team members each have their own social disfunctions, which makes the society of the team a constant point of friction. These personalities are well-described, but don't seem to change much through the story.

The game world is interesting, featuring only anthropomorphic animal species (including the players) and monsters. The conceit is a dungeon world with many levels, each involving some sort of challenge to proceed to the next level.

The outer (real?) world is largely sketched in, and only to the extent necessary for the main plot.

The main plot is complex and involves elements of both worlds intersecting to complicate the race to the end of the dungeon.

This book straddles the boundary between virtual reality and isekai in an interesting way, but I didn't find the story being told to be especially compelling. That said, it's interesting enough that I'll finish the series (which is only three books long). I want to know how this is going to turn out.

Very good

A very good continuation to a very unique take on litrpg. Well done, with really great mythology to it. Here’s looking forward to the final entry in the series.

Fantastic continuation of the first book!

I love the fun setting this author has created, the stakes are high but not enough to deter the characters from trying new and creative things. Grim and dark but not truly grimdark, unless the third book proves me wrong. fun listen and I'll be relistenimg to this for sure!